How we develop custom corporate training
SkillDay is a corporate training agency that builds every in-house programme from scratch. Each corporate training is designed backwards from a single question: what has to be different at 5pm? Only once that is clear do we decide on content, exercises and slides. No catalogue courses, no recycled decks.
Five steps, one arc
Three principles behind every training we design
We start at the end
Design begins with the behaviour you want on Monday morning, not with a topic list. Everything that does not serve that gets cut.
One core message
Each training carries one sentence participants can still repeat a week later. If we cannot write that sentence, the design is not ready.
A storyline, not a slide dump
A good workshop day has an arc — tension, practice, resolution. We design that arc on purpose, the way you would design a talk.
Our corporate training design process
From the briefing call to changed behaviour: five steps. One of them is a loop on purpose — the draft is meant to be challenged, not admired.
Typical lead time from first call to training day: four to six weeks.
What happens in each step of the training design
Briefing call
We ask one question before any other: what has to be different at the end of the day? Then we work backwards from that answer — through behaviour, mindset, skills, and only then content.
- The business reason behind the training — what triggered it
- Success at 5pm, described in observable terms
- Core takeaways: what they can name afterwards
- Behaviour shift: what they do differently on Monday
- Mindset shift: what they now believe is possible
- Core skills: what they can actually do
- Who is in the room — level, history, what they are sceptical about
- Constraints: time, group size, room, language, in-house or online
Design proposal
We turn the goal into a storyline. Not a list of modules — an arc, with a theme holding it together and one message it all points at.
- Overarching theme — the one idea the day hangs on
- Core message — the sentence participants repeat a week later
- Detailed outline: modules, exercises, timings, energy curve
- Sample slides in your look and feel
- Facilitation logic: what we teach, what they practise, what they take home
- Where your real cases and your language enter the day
Feedback & fine-tuning
The draft exists to be challenged. “More practice, less theory.” “Our people will push back here.” “Swap that case for ours.” All of it is useful — a blunt no is worth more than a polite fine.
- We adjust the outline and sharpen the message
- We replace generic examples with your situations
- We rebalance input versus practice time
- We stress-test the risky moments — where might the room resist?
- We keep going until you would happily sit in the room yourself
Build & deliver
Now the full set gets built — and then facilitated. We do not lecture: short input, long practice, real work from your context, and enough structure that nobody drifts.
- Complete slide set, handouts and exercise material
- Facilitator script and timing plan
- In-house, online or hybrid — German or English
- Group work built on your real cases, not case-study fiction
- A trainer from our network who fits the topic and the room
Transfer
A training day only pays off in what happens next. This step is where the promise from the briefing call gets checked — and where most training processes quietly stop.
- One-page takeaway summary and photo protocol
- Individual commitments: what each participant does in the next 30 days
- Debrief with you: what landed, what to reinforce, what to watch
- Optional follow-up or refresher session
- Recommendations for the managers who have to back it up
What we mean by “success at 5pm”
Four questions, one answer at the centre. If we cannot fill all five boxes, the briefing call is not finished.
The four boxes describe the change. The centre is the sentence that carries it.
What we need from you — and what you get back
What we need from you
- 45 minutes for the briefing call — the single highest-leverage step
- One decision maker who can sign off the outline
- Two or three real situations your people struggle with
- Honest feedback on the draft, quickly
- Your slide template, if the deck should follow your CI
- A sentence on what has already been tried, and why it did not stick
What you get from us
- A written recap of the goal after the call
- A storyline and theme, not a list of modules
- Sample slides before you commit to the full build
- Complete material: slides, handouts, exercises, facilitator script
- Facilitation in German or English, in-house, online or hybrid
- A takeaway one-pager, 30-day commitments and a debrief
How long a custom corporate training takes to build
Briefing call
Scheduled within a few days of your first message. Recap follows within 24 hours.
Proposal
Outline, storyline, theme and sample slides land five to seven working days after the call.
Feedback & sign-off
One or two rounds of sharpening, then you sign off outline and message.
Build & deliver
Full material produced, then the training day itself. Transfer follows in the weeks after.
Comfortable lead time is four to six weeks. We have done it considerably faster when a date was already fixed — tell us the constraint and we will say honestly whether it is realistic.
Custom corporate training: the usual questions
How long does it take to develop a custom corporate training?
Four to six weeks is comfortable: briefing call, proposal within five to seven working days, one or two feedback rounds, then the build. We have delivered faster when a date was already fixed — tell us the constraint and we will say honestly whether it is realistic.
What does a training agency give you that a single freelance trainer does not?
A design process and a bench. SkillDay is a network of around six trainers and facilitators, so the person in the room is chosen to fit the topic and the audience — not whoever happens to be free. The design method stays the same either way.
Do you use off-the-shelf training programmes?
No. Methods and models are of course established ones — we do not reinvent facilitation. But the storyline, the exercises and the cases are built around your goal and your situations. A catalogue course is cheaper and it shows in the room.
Can we see material before we commit to the full build?
Yes, that is the point of step two. You get the outline, the overarching theme, the core message and the first real sample slides before we produce the full deck — so you can judge the tone early rather than at the dress rehearsal.
Do you deliver in-house, online, in German and in English?
All four. In-house across Europe, online, or hybrid, facilitated in German or English. The format is settled in the briefing call, because it changes the design — an online day is not a live day with a webcam pointed at it.
What happens after the training day?
Transfer. Participants leave with a one-page summary and a personal 30-day commitment, and you get a short debrief on what we saw in the room — including the things people only say to an outsider. A follow-up or refresher session is optional.
Start with the briefing call
Forty-five minutes, no obligation. By the end of it you will have a much sharper answer to what your training day actually needs to change — whether or not you work with us.
We reply within one working day. In-house across Europe and online.